I’ve been planting peppers in my garden for years.  Every year I get bumper crops of all kinds of peppers from sweet bells to jalapenos and serranos to habaneros.  And every year I struggle to…

Some vegetables are dangerous.  Zucchini falls into this category. First, you have to dedicate a lot of space to grow it.  Two of my six raised beds are dedicated to squash.  Second, they come at…

Growing up, we lived in the city of Monongahela, across the street from Williams Elementary School.  It was built in the 1890s and was a yellow brick fortress about half-way up the hill that was…

In the US we have no royalty.  Kardashians not withstanding.  In fact, we went to great lengths to get rid of the last king we had way back in 1776.  But I’m sitting here enduring…

Ireland by car is a great way to go.  Once you get by the whole “driving on the wrong side of the road” thing.  In 2009, near the end of our 13 month stint in…

I always liked the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. But, what if life gives you thousands of peppers? As my readers know, I am an avid gardener, and each year I plant…

Thomas Wolfe was wrong. You can go home.  Ten-plus years ago, we spent 13 months in the United Kingdom.  My son Max was 3, and turned 4 while there.  He loved trains.  We lived in…

Liverpool, England Beatles!, Beatles!, Beatles! Growing up in Western PA, the neighbor girl, Joyce, was about 8 years older than me.  She would sit in her bedroom with her record player playing Beatles songs on…